Walsh calls for 'expansive' hockey

Jaideep Singh in Sydney

When Australian coach and former captain Terry Walsh
says that it’s time to back expansive hockey so that
youngsets are attracted to play, the hockey
administrators surely can't ignore the point of view.

Walsh says hockey is losing its charm and this is a
dangerous turn of events with other sporting
disciplines trying to attract youngsters.

"We need to continue to make our game attractive as
it's fighting other sports to attract top class
talent," says Walsh. "And for this, promoting the
expansive style of hockey is the only way to go."

The expansive style of hockey, made famous by subcontinental teams India and Pakistan over six
decades ago, has now gone out of fashion.

Australia too plays the same style of hockey but has
taken a few leaves out of the modern European style to
remain among the top hockey-playing nations while the
subcontinental sides have lost their pre-eminent
status of yore.

"We play open style of hockey which is needed to
attract the crowds back to the spectacular game,"
Walsh said.

"During the current Olympics, we’ve seen a
resurgence of Pakistan and India and that's good for
the game.

"In open, expansive hockey you get lots of chances and
that brings the spectators to the hockey matches."

Walsh said the entertaining, expansive style of hockey
needs to be rewarded rather than pushed under the
carpet.

"Something needs to be done at the top, the iron's hot
and it's time to strike," he said, without going into
details. "We’ll talk about this at a different
platform."

Understandably, Walsh did not want to precipitate
things when Australia was playing host to the world
for the Olympic Games. But he has sent a clear signal for
the International Hockey Federation to take
note.

Walsh said Australia’s bronze medal, which they won
defeating Pakistan 6-3 in the play-off for the third
place, wasn’t the colour of medal they had hoped for.

"This tournament was our most consistent performance
but the gold still remains elusive, you can't get any
closer than this time," he said.

Walsh talked of his nightmare to get the boys back
into the required frame of mind for the bronze medal
game after the tie-breaker loss in the semifinals.

"The boys did a great job to come out of the
disappointment very quickly. The team showed its
colours on the field," he said. "We had to put the
disappointment of the semifinal loss away and did that
within 24 hours.